Oh I needed this. I think to myself as I take my first sip of my weekly coffee. I was such a caffeine addict that had to cut myself down before I gave myself an ulcer or something. As the sweet, chocolaty taste of my café mocha washes over my tongue I feel relief once again as I make my way out of the door of the coffee shop to head to my class.
Its Friday and the air is still cool as we near the end of winter; just a cool bite to the wind enough to make you want to curl up somewhere warm. I shiver as a cool breeze blows through my hair and take another sip of warm coffee.
As I stroll down the sidewalk I pull out my phone and check the time. Wow, why am I always so early to class? That's when it happens.
Someone bumps into me hard and, staring down at my phone the way I was, I never saw it coming. I watched as my precious cup of chocolate-flavored caffeinated bliss explodes across the concrete. Oh no, this poor, unlucky soul is about to get a terrible berating just because of a mistake. Though I know it was more than likely an accident I feel the anger pool inside me and I ball up my fists ready to turn and snap at the killer of my day.
Whoa. I find myself staring into bright teal eyes, widened in surprise, and surrounded by stunning red hair pulled into twin braids. I stand there for a moment, fists balled up and jaw hanging slack, until she speaks first.
"Oh my god! I am so sorry! I was rushing to class, and I wasn't looking up so I didn't even see you.. and then I hit your coffee and now it's everywhere. It didn't burn you did it? I am so, so sorry. Are you ok?" her words come less as sentences and more as one really long, disconnected speech. I struggle for a moment to find words for myself but am now reminded of my missing coffee. I look down at it as its soaking into the concrete and almost feel tears welling up. This is just par for the week.
Her hand is on my shoulder, "hey, let me buy you a new one to make up for it?" she says, her eyes full of concern. "but.. your class." I manage to squeak out. God those eyes. "nah I'm pretty late already anyways. Besides, can't really leave you here crying about your coffee," she finishes with a small smile. My face turns bright red. Damn, I hoped she wouldn't notice that. "c'mon," she says and begins walking towards the coffee shop. I stare after her for a second before jogging up behind her. She holds the door open for me, a blast of warm air and the smell of coffee greets us. I follow her up to the counter.
"what are you having?" the barista asks us. "I'll have a café mocha with extra chocolate" she says excitedly. She looks over to me with a smile, "your turn." "I'll have the same please," I say with a small smile. Why do I suddenly feel so embarrassed with this girl here? Wait. What is her name? "and a name for the order?" the conveniently-timed barista asks. "Anna," the red-head responds. Anna swipes her card and thanks the girl at the counter.
Anna leads me over to a table for two in front of the large front window of the shop and plops herself down into a chair. I sit down and she gives me a simple, but stunning, smile. "Thank you Anna," I say, attempting to make my smile match hers. "you're very welco-" she stops short. "um, sorry what's your name?" she asks, a slight blush coloring her face, highlighting he freckles. "E-Elsa," I manage. "That's a very pretty name," she says with a smile, "you're very welcome Elsa." Something about the way she says my name makes a small shiver shoot up my spine. Why does this girl make me feel so damn bashful?
"So do you really love coffee or was there something else wrong?" she asks bluntly, eyes full of concern. Just then the barista calls her name, thoroughly distracting her. She jumps up, retrieves our coffees and returns to the table, sliding mine over to me. I take a sip and smile. Even better than the first. I look up and see that Anna is watching me. She smiles and I blush. "glad you like it," she says, looking out the window towards the spot where my other cup has dried into the floor, "hope it makes up for that one." I smile at her as she stares out the window. This girl is beautiful. Her red hair is bright in comparison to her skin which is a healthy color and spattered with freckles. And her eyes. They're so bright, beautiful, and full of life. And they're looking at me. Wait, what? I realize Anna is staring right back into my eyes. I turn a bright shade of pink, feeling embarrassed and I quickly glance away.
"I hope you were thinking good things about me," she says softly, deepening my blush. "S-Sorry,' I sputter. "so what's your major?" she asks. "I'm just trying for a business degree," I say lamely, "you?"
She turns to look out of the window. "I'm still undeclared. I have no idea what I really want to do with my life." She says, clearly deep in thought and looking a little reminiscent of a music video with the way she is staring out the window. Is this girl even real? She has to be a figment of my imagination. She shook her head and turned back to me, "sorry, kinda spaced out there." When I looked back into her eyes, they almost seemed a different color. They were darker, sadder, and a little scared. She smiled, causing me to break from my train of thought. "you're staring again," she said quietly. I opened my mouth to voice my worry, but my brain was not working. She makes me flustered so easily. I took a long sip of my coffee and looked away.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I have a habit of doing all the talking and rambling on forever." She was staring down at her hands, clasping and unclasping her fingers, a frown on her face. No, I didn't mean to hurt you. My hand reached out of its own accord and grabbed hers. "N-no." I stuttered feebly. "I know I'm really quiet, but sitting here with you has been really nice." I offered a small smile.
She looked up at me, tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. A small noise escaped her throat as her tears began to boil over. She gripped onto my hand and I gave a reassuring squeeze back. Anna pulled a hand away and wiped her arm across her nose. "S-sorry," she said between sniffles, "this week has really sucked."
I opened my mouth to ask about it, but decided against it. Surely she doesn't want to share her personal info with a total stranger.
"I just got kicked out yesterday." She said out of the blue, nearly starting a new round of sobs. I stared at her surprised. "My boyfriend Hans said he found someone else, and wanted me out. I didn't really have much stuff so I just made a bag and left." Tears still came, but she sat silent, still holding on to my hand. "My best friend let me crash at his place yesterday, but his girlfriend doesn't want me staying there," a soft sniffle interrupted her sentence, "and I still have no idea where I am going to go tonight.
She stood up abruptly. "sorry, I didn't mean to dump all this on you, im not your problem and sorry for making it seem like it. Nice meeting you, bye," she spewed her words out faster than I could process. She turned to leave, stepping towards the door. I forgot she was still clutching onto my hand and didn't notice until she tugged on it in the process of walking away.
I have an extra bedroom you can stay in. She turned around a glared at me, surprised. Oh god did I say that out loud? "Really?" she asked, eyes and voice full of hope, and verging on happiness. Good luck saying no to that face. Geez Elsa, all it took was one glance of those eyes and she's had you wrapped around your finger.
"um, well I mean.." come on Elsa, use your words, "my parents are letting me use the house they own here, it's not very big but it's got a second bedroom." She smiled broadly, "how much is rent?" "Well, I don't pay anything so.. nothing?" I said. "A-are you sure?" she said with a small stutter, "I mean, I'm a total stranger, why would you help me?" cause you're beautiful and don't want you to cry. "I think you would do the same for me." I said, giving my most convincing smile. "After all, you saved me from crying and replaced my coffee." "buying a coffee and offering a place to live are pretty different Els. Sorry, Elsa." She laughed brightly, her happy tone back into her voice.
"When can I move in?" she asked. "T-tonight if you'd like," I said. Wait, when did I last clean? "deal!" she leaned down and hugged me hard . "thank you." She sniffles to me. Is it possible for someone to smell as wonderful as they look? Because she is definitely doing it. She opened her bag and pulled out a small chunk of paper. "do you have a pen?" she asks, digging through her bag, her search proving fruitless. I slid her mine and she scribbled on it, folded it up, and slid it over to me. "that's my number, make sure you don't lose it," she says, smiling at me, "I don't imagine that park benches are very comfortable."
She grabs up her "well I can't miss both of my classes today," she said turning towards the door, "I'll see you tonight!" She ran off before I could say anything else. I stared off after her, recapping this morning's events in my head.
What did I just get myself into?